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Basically this is my lead for most matches. the focus sash means he can live at least one guaranteed turn and so mostly this will be used to set up stealth rocks. The team has no rapid spinner and Cloyster cannot sweep with any hazards up so if there is any threat of the opponent setting up hazards then you U-turn out in to Espeon, blocking the opponents rocks, damaging the opposing pokemon and setting up rocks on the opponents side of the field in one fell swoop. You can also choose to U-turn first turn rather than setting up rocks as Infernape can be fairly useful mid and late game, hitting Ferrothorn and Scizor with stab overheats or dishing out damage via stab close-combat.

Normally People run dual screen Espeon, but I prefer this set as it is a lot more offensive. The role of Espeon is to keep hazards off your side of the field as the team has 3 focus sash users, and being able to switch back in with 1 HP can be incredibly helpful. Espeon can switch in on pokemon like Ferrothorn and Forretress which rarely run more than one offensive move, tank hits and set up calm minds. With 2 calm minds set up, stored power becomes a 100 base power move and so Espeon has the potential to take out any pokemon who switch in. Wish is for survivability as Espeon needs to survive for as long as possible as even late game rocks can be disastrous. If Espeon needs to switch then you can baton pass into either Alakazam or Hydreigon, who often receive a +3 sp attack boost. morning sun can be run as a replacement to wish but rain is so common that wish becomes much more reliable.

As shown by his role, Scizor is my revenge killer. With choice band, stab and technician bullet punch becomes a 135 BP move which can easily K.O. anything that doesn't resist it, provided its at lowish HP. Pursuit is pretty obvious, if you think the opponent will switch, go for pursuit and take out the threat. Superpower can be opted for if you want to be more offensive but is not ideal for sweeping due to the attack and defence drops. Stab U-turn is perfect for scouting or can be used as an alternative to pursuit if you want to deal out more damage to the pokemon switching in and get the switch initiative.

This is the basic shell smashing set and is incredibly simple, shell smash, survive on focus sash, hit everything for massive dommage! Cloyster only really needs one shell smash to sweep, so if you have the chance to keep your focus sash intact, keep your focus sash intact. Nothing else much to say about Cloyster really. :3

Alakazam's awesome ability basically means that even if rocks do get set up, It can still switch in with its focus sash intact and can act as a revenge killer if Scizor has been taken out. psyshock means it can fit physical walls on their weak side and all the other moves act as coverage. Alakazam has weak defences so acts as a glass cannon, hit hard and take down as many pokemon along with it.

Hydreigon is here to patch up the holes in the team and break holes in the opponents. Hydreigon Can switch in on politoed and hit it with a draco-meteor or a superpower and if the opponent switche in to a steel type then the following turn they will be taken out by a full powered superpower. Roost is their for survivability although hydreigon shouldn't be staying in too long as superpower and draco-mateor reduce its offensive potential. the generally strategy is, switch in on wall, kill wall, roost up health, switch out.

Update: There have been way more replies than I anticipated, so allow me to summarise so people don't end up repeating suggestions. I'm testing Donphan as an offensive rapid spinner in the team but for now Espeon acts as a pseudo-spinner, i have 3 physical attackers so if your going to suggest a physical attacker then it has to be a replacement to cloyster which is the teams main sweeper atm. 3 Sashes may seem like a lot but Alakazam has magic guard and Infernape is my lead so they bypass rocks anyway.

I need to update the strategy sections but I cba at the moment :3

So that's my team, Hope it's OK, Leave any suggestions below, and check out my Youtube channel to see me using this team online: www.youtube.com/macki2k

First off, NEVER USE SERIOUS OR SIMILAR NATURES!!! It doesn't help. Go for naive/mild/naughty. Or so on
Rmt stand for rate my team (I think)
Run roost over charge beam, and run mild with 100 att, 216 sp att and 192 spd. This lets it stop bliss and chansey. Roost gives it survivability. Also, use a life orb, as the boost happes allot more often.
Run a lonely nature on infernape,
Bug types destroy 50% of your team. Volcarona can set up a few quiver dances, and bye goes the win. As one hates fire(scizor) that dies too, and can't retaliate.
One espeon is out, you are losing some faith. Try running dophan as the rocks setter.
Use this over infernape.
Dophan@leftovers
Adamant.
252 att, 4 def, 252 hp
-stealth rocks
-rapid spin
-earthquake
-ice shard
Ability sturdy.

This can live without the focus sash. Rock and spin support. Earthquake for STAB, and ice shard for crippling ninjask, garchomp, dragonite, gliscor, etc.

Hm.

Uhhhh....... I'm not saying your wrong... But, that is NOT the advice I'd give. I'd say, the natures repeating thing doesn't matter if it makes the Pokemon's IVs closer to flawless. Also, don't pretend Volcarona can defeat this team between Rock Blasts and a Stealth Rock setup. And he can't sweep through a Cloyster! Well... maybe he could, but his typing is literally the worst matchup it could possibly be (<-- debatable)! And I wouldn't really use a Donphan in a competitive battle!. I might, actually...
But all of your other points are kinda random. Who cares if his natures aren't idiosyncratic, like really.

lol? its not the nature being repeated that is the problem. its the problem that serious, hardy, etc increases no stats and decreases no stats. its neutrality is bad, because that extra 10% is very important.

Also, don't pretend Volcarona can defeat this team between Rock Blasts and a Stealth Rock setup. And he can't sweep through a Cloyster! Well... maybe he could, but his typing is literally the worst matchup it could possibly be (<-- debatable)!

its typing is actually very good offensively. defensively, not so much, but then again, its not really meant to be used defensively to wall.

And I wouldn't really use a Donphan in a competitive battle!. I might, actually...
But all of your other points are kinda random. Who cares if his natures aren't idiosyncratic, like really.

why not? donphan is a very good spinner, and sets up rocks often and reliably enough. it has many niches it can fill.

ill edit this later with an actual rate, but philzone hit on some issues fairly well.

Generally offensive teams like this either use a volt turn strategy or multiple set up sweepers, you have one (2 including hydreigon with charge beam). Might I suggest you go with a volt turn team (since you seem to like switches) and replace Cloyster with a rotom w and alakazam with landorus t

^You ever have that moment you realize you forgot to give credit? Sorry Irra!!^

Uhhhh....... I'm not saying your wrong... But, that is NOT the advice I'd give. I'd say, the natures repeating thing doesn't matter if it makes the Pokemon's IVs closer to flawless. Also, don't pretend Volcarona can defeat this team between Rock Blasts and a Stealth Rock setup. And he can't sweep through a Cloyster! Well... maybe he could, but his typing is literally the worst matchup it could possibly be (<-- debatable)! And I wouldn't really use a Donphan in a competitive battle!. I might, actually...
But all of your other points are kinda random. Who cares if his natures aren't idiosyncratic, like really.

So much to say to this.... It basically just shows that you have NO idea what you're talking about. Many times over.

1. As mentioned, you say you wouldn't give this advice but you give NO advice.

2. Natures repeating is not a problem, no one ever said it was. The fact that these Natures do NOTHING is a problem. As for the IVs, they should already be perfect, what with this being the competitive forum. Teams for use on simulators and the like.

3. Yes, Volcarona CAN sweep this team. Bug Buzz says hi Cloyster. The only reasonable check to it is Infernape as for Cloyster to have a chance it has to already be set up. Volca in first will dominate Cloyster. Its typing isn't even bad. As mentioned, it's fantastic offensively, which is what Volca is used for.

4. Donphan is a great Pokemon for spinning and walling. It can also phaze with Roar and drop Rocks. It's got awesome physical bulk and Sturdy too. Translated: it makes a very nice set-up Pokemon that can function as a revenge killer as well. I prefer Forretress or Ferrothorn for this role, but Donphan is perfectly fine in competitive battles.

5. Who cares about the natures? Competitive players. Meaning everyone using the Competitive forum. This is a large part (alongside Hidden Power and convenience) we use simulators here. Serious natures and those similar to it are godawful and should never be used ever. EVER. The 10% boost is far more important than IVs, which on simulators should be perfect anyway, or as close to it as your chosen Hidden Power type allows. Obviously, Gyro Ball and Trick Room are exceptions as both should run 0 Spe IVs.

What I'm saying is.... Research your competitve Pokemon before rating....

With regard to the team, it reminds me of a fun HO team I made that I called Senkei (Bleach fans will get the reference here...). It was actually probably my most successful team. Anyway, Infernape makes an interesting lead here... It would appear to be the ever-threatening MixApe with Rocks and a Sash. That is interesting, and the EVs seem solid, although I'm wondering why not 252 Atk and 4 SpA. Overheat doesn't really need the extra 3 points, as you only really use it once per switch. Oh, and please get rid of Serious.... Bad nature.... Very bad nature.... For anything...

The rest is pretty standard offense, just give Hydreigon Modest or Timid over Serious

Last edited by loco1234; 1st December 2012 at 4:58 AM.

"Whether Castform the Weather Pokemon can weather the weather is dependent on whether the weather that it's weathering is the proper weather for it to weather. Whether the opponent can weather the weather is also subject to whether the weather that it's weathering is the right weather to weather. Whether Castform can weather the opponent is once again dictated by the weather and whether that weather is the favorable weather for weathering. But most importantly, you should know whether there will be weather to weather rather than what weather they will be weathering and whether they can weather that weather."

Uhhhh....... I'm not saying your wrong... But, that is NOT the advice I'd give. I'd say, the natures repeating thing doesn't matter if it makes the Pokemon's IVs closer to flawless. Also, don't pretend Volcarona can defeat this team between Rock Blasts and a Stealth Rock setup. And he can't sweep through a Cloyster! Well... maybe he could, but his typing is literally the worst matchup it could possibly be (<-- debatable)! And I wouldn't really use a Donphan in a competitive battle!. I might, actually...
But all of your other points are kinda random. Who cares if his natures aren't idiosyncratic, like really.

Either you're trolling, or you have no idea what you're talking about. I'm leaning towards option B.

Cloyster can't switch in on any of Volcarona's attacks, and can't stomach a +1 Fiery Dance, especially if Spikes or Rocks breaks his Sash. Natures are very important, even more so than IVs normally. The maximum difference between two stats in terms of IVs is 31, while the difference between a good and bad nature is 20%. Donphan is one of the best spinners in OU due to his ability to also bring an offensive presence to a team and his good Defence and HP stats, as well as Sturdy (which is really sort of useless on a Spinner, since his job is to spin away hazards, Sturdy is broken when he switches in most of the time).

Honestly, this team is very unbalanced. First of all, fix your natures. Secondly, I'd recommend either the Donphan that Philzone posted or a Forretress, to provide Rapid Spin support to your team. I know there's someone else who can both lay Rocks and Spin but I forget who, and Donphan and Forretress are the superior options anyways I think. The one nitpick I have is perhaps Stone Edge over Ice Shard. Non-STAB Ice Shard is standard, but in my experience, very weak, often failing to KO weakened 4x weak Pokemon like Dragonite, while Stone Edge gives you a strong weapon vs. Volcarona. You could also use Rock Slide, but Rock Slide's drop in power might leave you wanting occasionally.

AAArgh so many replies, Can't answer all....
First charge beam on hydreigon is designed to hit water types such as politoed and gyarodos as it resists their stab, boosts its sp attack with the charge beam then can hit the rest of the opponents team with multiple draco meteors. With regard to the natures, there's really no stats that i want to drop as they are all speedy mixed sets which i like to have at least a bit of survivability. I'm probably not going to put donphan in this team as it doesn't really fit the theme of this team (offence). My way of deraling with volcarona would be via stealth rocks and then i could revenge kill with scizor (as volcarona is not as strong defesively) or pivot switch in to c;loyster and set up a shell smash. For now my main change is going to be on infernape:

Aaaaaaaaaahhhh!!! LOL! The part in red was supposed to be a cross-out...
I copy and pasted it from word and I guess it just... sigh...
And also I wasn't trying to troll (which I try so hard not to do because I hate when people do it to me.)

And lastly I didn't realize that his natures were no stat boost... My bad... In fact I usually defend myself but yea, there's really nothing to say here... XD Sorry about that.

AAArgh so many replies, Can't answer all....
First charge beam on hydreigon is designed to hit water types such as politoed and gyarodos as it resists their stab, boosts its sp attack with the charge beam then can hit the rest of the opponents team with multiple draco meteors. With regard to the natures, there's really no stats that i want to drop as they are all speedy mixed sets which i like to have at least a bit of survivability. I'm probably not going to put donphan in this team as it doesn't really fit the theme of this team (offence). My way of deraling with volcarona would be via stealth rocks and then i could revenge kill with scizor (as volcarona is not as strong defesively) or pivot switch in to c;loyster and set up a shell smash. For now my main change is going to be on infernape:

I've given him a new nature as survivabilty is not a big deal due to the focus sash and the boosted stats help me hit harder with U-turn/ close combat.

I may well end up making a variation on this team with a rapid spinner and a more volt-turn based core. :3
Thanks for the suggestions anyways
Macki

120 base att doesn't sound offensive, eh? Revenge killing gliscor and garchomp not offensive for you? Scizor only has one move that doesn't cause half damage. And that is pursuit. Bullet punch has 90 base power on scizor. This is after adding the bonuses. You may want to run naive nature on Hydreigon, so it can out speed. It can bo KOed before it can attack.

Well, there's that saying that you can't have everything you want in life, or something like that, and Pokemon is the exact same way lol. There's going to be some give and take if you want a team to be effective whether it be sacrificing some durability for power or the other way around. I don't know what type of player you are so I'm not going to make many suggestions. Infernape is not going to take many hits as it's frail and well, that's the reason you slapped a sash on it so I'd go for a Naive nature on Infernape.

This is my first RMT I've done (I don't even know whether RMT stands for ready made team or rate my team) but it seems to work pretty well. It's designed purely around offence with an Espeon for support (5 elites and an Espeon?).
So without further adieu, the team

Basically this is my lead for most matches. the focus sash means he can live at least one guaranteed turn and so mostly this will be used to set up stealth rocks. The team has no rapid spinner and Cloyster cannot sweep with any hazards up so if there is any threat of the opponent setting up hazards then you U-turn out in to Espeon, blocking the opponents rocks, damaging the opposing pokemon and setting up rocks on the opponents side of the field in one fell swoop. You can also choose to U-turn first turn rather than setting up rocks as Infernape can be fairly useful mid and late game, hitting Ferrothorn and Scizor with stab overheats or dishing out damage via stab close-combat.

Normally People run dual screen Espeon, but I prefer this set as it is a lot more offensive. The role of Espeon is to keep hazards off your side of the field as the team has 3 focus sash users, and being able to switch back in with 1 HP can be incredibly helpful. Espeon can switch in on pokemon like Ferrothorn and Forretress which rarely run more than one offensive move, tank hits and set up calm minds. With 2 calm minds set up, stored power becomes a 100 base power move and so Espeon has the potential to take out any pokemon who switch in. Wish is for survivability as Espeon needs to survive for as long as possible as even late game rocks can be disastrous. If Espeon needs to switch then you can baton pass into either Alakazam or Hydreigon, who often receive a +3 sp attack boost. morning sun can be run as a replacement to wish but rain is so common that wish becomes much more reliable.

As shown by his role, Scizor is my revenge killer. With choice band, stab and technician bullet punch becomes a 135 BP move which can easily K.O. anything that doesn't resist it, provided its at lowish HP. Pursuit is pretty obvious, if you think the opponent will switch, go for pursuit and take out the threat. Superpower can be opted for if you want to be more offensive but is not ideal for sweeping due to the attack and defence drops. Stab U-turn is perfect for scouting or can be used as an alternative to pursuit if you want to deal out more damage to the pokemon switching in and get the switch initiative.

This is the basic shell smashing set and is incredibly simple, shell smash, survive on focus sash, hit everything for massive dommage! Cloyster only really needs one shell smash to sweep, so if you have the chance to keep your focus sash intact, keep your focus sash intact. Nothing else much to say about Cloyster really. :3

Alakazam's awesome ability basically means that even if rocks do get set up, It can still switch in with its focus sash intact and can act as a revenge killer if Scizor has been taken out. psyshock means it can fit physical walls on their weak side and all the other moves act as coverage. Alakazam has weak defences so acts as a glass cannon, hit hard and take down as many pokemon along with it.

Hydreigon is here to patch up the holes in the team and give better coverage. Hydreigon is pretty much the only thing that can hit rain teams, with expert belt boosted charge beams. this boosts its s-attack to either hit powerful fire blasts or multiple full power draco meteors. Super power is there to hit pokemon after its used a draco meteor and otherwise to hit special walls such as blissey/chansey.

So that's my team, Hope it's OK, Leave any suggestions below, and check out my youtube channel to see me using this team online: www.youtube.com/macki2k
Kthanx bai :3

Hydreigon needs a Naive nature. Also, allocate the 4 HP EVs into Atk so Superpower hits a bit harder. Roost > Charge Beam. Charge Beam does nothing to help Hydreigon. Roost will allow him to come back into the game and wallbreak some more.

In order to understand my train of thoughts,
you'll have to put yourself in my position. You can't expect me to think like you because my life ain't like yours; You know what I'm sayin?

Alright, I'm going off of the OP post, because honestly, I'm too lazy to read any of these posts.

First of all, Thundurus-T can still outspeed an Adamant Cloyster after Shell Smash. It's a better idea to use Jolly Nature for that instead.

Also, Donphan over Infernape. First of all, Donphan gets Ice Shard, which lets it take out Salamence and Garshomp with relative ease, and it's a spinner, which is almost a necessity in today's metagame. Also, he provides a safe switch-in to Thundurus-T. Try this:

AAArgh so many replies, Can't answer all....
First charge beam on hydreigon is designed to hit water types such as politoed and gyarodos as it resists their stab, boosts its sp attack with the charge beam then can hit the rest of the opponents team with multiple draco meteors. With regard to the natures, there's really no stats that i want to drop as they are all speedy mixed sets which i like to have at least a bit of survivability. I'm probably not going to put donphan in this team as it doesn't really fit the theme of this team (offence). My way of deraling with volcarona would be via stealth rocks and then i could revenge kill with scizor (as volcarona is not as strong defesively) or pivot switch in to c;loyster and set up a shell smash. For now my main change is going to be on infernape:

Alright, I'm going off of the OP post, because honestly, I'm too lazy to read any of these posts.

First of all, Thundurus-T can still outspeed an Adamant Cloyster after Shell Smash. It's a better idea to use Jolly Nature for that instead.

Also, Donphan over Infernape. First of all, Donphan gets Ice Shard, which lets it take out Salamence and Garshomp with relative ease, and it's a spinner, which is almost a necessity in today's metagame. Also, he provides a safe switch-in to Thundurus-T. Try this:

Ok thanks again for all the suggestions, I'll need some time to try out donphan, so for now I'm keeping Infernape in the team.

i am making a few changes namely:

Give Hydreigon a hasty nature, this does mean that it will take more damage from waterfalls from gyarados but the speed boost makes up for it and as sweetie belle has suggested, i will put the 4 evs in to attack rather than hp. ( i really should have done that in the first place :3)
So now Hydreigon looks like this:

Hydreigon @ Expert Belt
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Hasty Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Fire Blast
- Superpower
- Charge Beam
The reason for keeping charge beam is that i like to use this to take out the ever present politoed and also boost my sp attack ( i find that being able to hit a +2 draco meteor then a full powered one next turn can mess up an opponents team)

The other change is I will try out a jolly nature on cloyster but, this does mean that his attack is dropped by 28 (56 when you take shell smash in to consideration)

Any more suggestions are welcome but please no more people asking for donphan, i will test him out soon but i don't have time atm
thanks Macki :3

Ok thanks again for all the suggestions, I'll need some time to try out donphan, so for now I'm keeping Infernape in the team.

i am making a few changes namely:

Give Hydreigon a hasty nature, this does mean that it will take more damage from waterfalls from gyarados but the speed boost makes up for it and as sweetie belle has suggested, i will put the 4 evs in to attack rather than hp. ( i really should have done that in the first place :3)
So now Hydreigon looks like this:

Hydreigon @ Expert Belt
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Hasty Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Fire Blast
- Superpower
- Charge Beam
The reason for keeping charge beam is that i like to use this to take out the ever present politoed and also boost my sp attack ( i find that being able to hit a +2 draco meteor then a full powered one next turn can mess up an opponents team)

The other change is I will try out a jolly nature on cloyster but, this does mean that his attack is dropped by 28 (56 when you take shell smash in to consideration)

Any more suggestions are welcome but please no more people asking for donphan, i will test him out soon but i don't have time atm
thanks Macki :3

Most politoed hate draco meteor and superpower. If then the only thing left is to boost the sp att, use work up, since it can boost superpower too.
Try the mixed set in the Hydreigon potw, since it works wonders

Not every team is the same. Unless you're team is like Terrakion/Lucario/Tyranitar/Aggron or whatever which will probably never be, you'll need a spinner, well essentially if youd like to hold up competitively.

Tbh, rapid spinning isn't a huge deal in this team, infernape will usually lead so he has his sash intact anyway and alakazam has magic guard, taking 12% from stealth rocks really isn't a big deal to hydreigon, especially if I decide to put roost on it, phil you make a fair point that politoed can probably be taken out by Draco meteor so I may change hydreigons role to more of a support pokemon than an outright sweeper.
Mainly I keep rocks off my side of the field by leading with infernape then u-turning in to espeon if there is any threat of stealth rocks being set up. So in one turn I not only damage the stealth rock setter but keep rocks of my side of the field and set them up on the opponents side. If espeon dies then generally I will switch in to cloister to set up a shell smash before the opponent gets the chance to bring in their rocks setter and attempt a sweep with cloyster.
Hope this helps, keep the suggestiins coming
Macki :3

I'm too lazy to read all these posts, so don't mind me if I get some info wrong if you updated or something.

Alright, your first problem is that you have a Cloyster and no spinner. You actually said enemy cloysters are demolished with SR in your post there so use that advice to get a spinner. I'd personally replace it over Espeon because that set isn't going to work very well in my opinion, well then again, I still think Creaselia is a better screener than Espeon but whatever. Try Donphan or Starmie, but I think you should use Donphan as you already have starmies other moves in Hydreigon and stuff.

Next, I see you have 3 sashers. Personally, I'd only use one, and if your spinner goes down you're screwed with 3 sashers. So try replacing one with a Scarf Moxiemence. It's fast, extremely powerful, and not nearly as frail. Here's a set:

I wouldn't use cloyster with a sash YES it have lots of weakness but damn... base 180 defense just switch it on a physical pokemon specially if choiced into a resisted move.. let's say a thunderus-t locked into HP ice or anything choiced into a resisted or neutral move or even dragonite use white herb it is better in most battles..
From my experience but it's only nme the best espeon set is an offesive one in B2W2 you won't go anyway with a defensive one pack grass knot HP fire and life orb and you can 0/2HKO all your counters with a smart play..
And same on alakazam HP fire>HP ice genesect!
nobody is gonna let you set up 2 CM.. that's why you should use psychic instead then shadow ball or calm mind.